They Will Pay
by IcY-bLuE13
Summary: They took them one by one. Each time ripping a piece of Max's heart out. Now she'll do what all means to get them back and taste revenge. No character deaths... unless you count flyboys and erasers as characters...
1. Chapter 1

**[A/N] Hey Guys, there are few things you need to know before you read this Fanfic. I haven't added Total in this story. This takes after MR4 and of course Itex is back. Everyone in the Flock is all a year older. Max, Fang and Iggy are 15, Nudge is 12, Gazzy is 9 and Angel is 7.I'm an Aussie and this is set in America, so I'm sorry if I get some details wrong, please tell me if I do! And last of all, the spelling might be a bit different. I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride**

Nudge was first to go… It happened when the sun was setting three months ago. Like always, we were on the run from Itex. But that evening we were more exhausted than usual. We had fought three groups of Erasers at different times during the day, and then we flew for 9 hours straight, hoping to find safety. But there was none.

Ever since she was taken by erasers, I blamed myself. If I hadn't sent her to collect some wood, alone, she would have never been captured. We finally noticed an hour later when Gazzy asked where she was. How could I be so stupid? I didn't even notice when one of my family, who counted on me and trusted me, disappear. I tried to convince myself that she was merely lost in the woods, not captured, not taken. Iggy hadn't heard any voices that meant she didn't scream for help. Maybe if Angel were awake, maybe she would have heard her desperate thoughts. But she wasn't. While I went berserk, shouting and feeling guilty, Angel stirred from her sleeping spot. During the flight she fainted for exhaustion and Fang had to carry her to our new camp.

According to Iggy, when Gazzy broke the news to her, she broke into tears. Tears that not even Gazzy could stop. But who knows, he might have been lying. I doubt it though; Iggy never lied unless it had something to do with bombs. While Angel was sobbing, Fang and I had already taken off to look for Nudge together. We thought that if we split up we would both get caught. It took us hours to search the whole forest. But we came back to faces filled with hope, empty-handed. Nudge was gone.

Surprisingly, Angel held out a small card in her quivering hand. As I read, my blood boiled. **They will pay. **Oh, they will pay and when they do, they'll never know what hit them. Sensing the anger rushing to my head, Fang snatched the card out of my hand before I could scrunch it up into little pieces.

"We have experiment B32179, or as you call her, Nudge. We will never be giving her back." He read aloud from Itex's famous business card. Once he finished, I could see his jaw tighten and his knuckles show. He was furious. For minutes we stood there, surrounded by giant trees taking time to process what just happened.

A few minutes later, Angel gathered enough courage to speak, "M…Max, what are we going to do now? I mean, we have to go after Nudge! 'Cause no matter how hard I try, I can't hear her! Where is she!?" bursted Angel as her tears ran down her face like rain. She wasn't the only one who was crying. Gazzy was trying to hide his tears; he tried so hard to be strong. But from where I stood, I could see him crying. He was just as shocked, sad and devastated as Angel – his sister. Iggy was getting teary as well, but he didn't show it. The only clue he gave was a watery line that ran down his face. Next to me stood Fang, with Nudge taken to God knows where, he could still keep his mask in place.

As I comforted Angel, I was close to tears myself. "Come on guys, get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be a rough day." I squeaked, struggling to get the words out."Iggy, Fang, just sleep, I'll take the whole watch. I don't think I'll get any sleep tonight anyway." With that I sat down and leant my head against the sturdy oak tree.

Minutes passed and snores arose. I guessed the others were already asleep. My head was starting to throb from all of the thinking. I needed to create a plan and fast. "Hey, are you okay?" asked a hoarse voice, scaring the wits out of me. I should've known he wasn't asleep.

"Fang, I can't think of a plan that ends up with us getting Nudge back without losing anybody on the way," I complained shaking my head violently.

Grabbing his black laptop he sat down next to me and started typing. "Ok, why don't we start looking for the nearest Itex compound and then we'll figure out the rest."

"Can't sleep either?"

"Yep."

"Do you think they'll take anyone else?"

"I sure hope not… All I know is that we need to be careful and extra alert."

Sighing in agreement, I spent the rest of the night staring at the stars, wishing for things that would never come true.

But 13 days later, they took someone else away from me…

**[A/N] Tell me any of your suggestions and please review! That way it tells me that this story isn't bad!**


	2. Chapter 2

**[A/N] Alright, this is the second Chapter! Again a few things you need to know…**

_Angel talking to Max in her head. __Max replying. _**Some of Max's thoughts on what was happening may be in **_**Italics**_**, but that is just for emphasis.****Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride**

Fang had eventually managed to find the closest Itex lab in Arizona. Though it was the closest, it was still pretty far away. On the 3rd of April, just 13 days after Nudge disappeared; we left first thing in the morning. Every single one of us was miserable. During the 5 hour flight no one spoke. For 5 hours we flew in silence as though we were mourning for Nudge. She wasn't dead, I was sure of it. Itex would be stupid enough to mess with me and my flock, but they were smart enough not to kill one of their most successful experiments.

"Alright guys, lets grab some food and burn this Itex lab to the ground!" I shouted enthusiastically breaking the silence and earning a few smiles. Ok, so we ate, and since we missed breakfast we ate a lot. During our meal, Gazzy seemed to have lightened everyone up with his jokes and mimics. Because of him, we were able to forget about Nudge for a little while.

The lab was supposed to be two minutes away. So as we took off, we flew in our new formation. It was very simple, strongest at the front, bombers at the back and mind controller in the middle.

"Umm… Max?" called Angel.

"Yes, Sweetie?

"I think this is a bad idea…"

"Why? Angel, Honey, we're going to save Nudge."

"But, their thoughts are really strange…"

"Whose thoughts? Has it got anything to do with Nudge?" I asked stopping in mid-air.

"No… but they're thinking of trap-"she was interrupted by a huge explosion from down below. The whole lab was burnt down; the whole lab was in pieces. Tears began to roll down my cheek. Nudge… No, she wasn't, couldn't have been in that building. Nudge… She's…dead?

"Max! Snap out of it!" shouted Fang as he shook me awake. "Erasers!" My head jerked up. Erasers? But aren't they dead too?

"MAX!" Fang shouted again. My senses finally came back to me. But it was already too late. Dozens of Erasers surrounded us. We couldn't fly away because we were already flying. Only one thought entered my mind before I rushed to the action, _we are so screwed_.

"The train Max!" yelled Iggy from the other side of the air battlefield. Yes, a train was coming.

"Everyone go, now! I'll delay them. Go quick!" I ordered while succeeding to crack an Eraser's neck by an air kick. Fortunately, the others were getting away but the Erasers were closing in. My hand came in contact with the closest Eraser. 'Crack' his jaw broke and he was pushed back into snarling monsters behind him; I barely heard his distinct moan above the entire racket. As he was blinded by pain and deaf with noise I noticed he clicked his watch before tumbling down to the hard earth. At first I thought it was some sort of tracking device or help call, but it was worse, much worse.

For what felt like hours, dozens of claws were flying towards me. I managed to doge most of them. But the ones that connected hurt and they hurt badly. Erasers were all surrounding me, only a few metres apart. There was no escape.

"Max!" yelled Gazzy desperately flying towards me with the others just behind him. _What the hell is he doing?_

"Gaz-"I started but was cut off with an ear-aching explosion.

"B O O M!" The train exploded into many parts. I glanced at Gazzy questioningly. Fuming, I let my anger out on the nearest Eraser and sadly my 'anger' seemed to knock him out and even more sadly he fell to his death._ Why did they blow up the train? It was our ticket of escape! _

_They didn't Max_

_What? What do you mean they didn't? Then who did?_

_Itex did. They blew up the train._

Oh crap. This was not good, not good at all. I was just about to ask Angel to tell the others to get away but unfortunately I was a too late. Fang was already at my side fighting off the Erasers; Iggy and Gazzy were aimlessly throwing bombs that made Erasers drop like flies. And Angel, well she was making Erasers hit other Erasers who were hitting other Erasers.

In seconds, only a third of the Erasers were left standing. I could feel the strong breeze rushing through my blonde hair, blinding my sight. Brushing my hair out of my face, my eyes widened as a giant fist flew towards me. I screwed up my face, waiting for the pain. But it never came. After ten seconds I opened one eye and discovered the Eraser had retreated. All of the Erasers had regrouped. That was not a good sign.

**[A/N] Ok, I know I said 'mess with me and my flock' and I know it isn't correct, it should be 'my flock and I' but I thought it sounded a lot better this way. And, please review… 'Cause the more reviews the less time you'll have to wait for the next chapter. So if I get about 5 or more reviews, I'll update very quick because I already have the 3****rd**** chapter already written up. Got any questions or suggestions? PM me or put it in a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**[A/N] Thanks for all of your reviews! Here's the third chapter, enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride**

Previously:

_All of the Erasers had regrouped. This was a bad sign._

Chapter 3

I was even more convinced when dangerously strong and fast winds came out of nowhere. By now, my flock had regrouped and stood with our backs facing the Erasers. We were all nervous, all anxious, all scared stiff about what was coming. Either way it was going to be bad, really bad.

Because of my extended eyesight, I spotted a black dot heading towards us unusually fast. "Is there a plane coming towards us?" Iggy asked curiously. No, it wasn't a plane. It was illegal to fly a plane this close to the ground. It had to be a helicopter.

"Guys, hold on to someone and fly down towards the trees!" I screamed, not knowing if my words could be heard over the powerful winds. Like a domino effect, I grabbed Fang's hand, who grabbed Angel's hand, who grabbed Iggy's.

"Gazzy! Grab my hand!" I heard Iggy shout. My attention instantly switched from Gazzy to the helicopter as soon as Gazzy planted his hand in Iggy's. It was only half a dozen metres away. I stared at the black propellers of the army helicopter.

"Is it just me or are they spinning faster and faster?" I thought with my eyes transfixed on those blades. It felt like a volcano eruption and all of the air was rushing up. I knew I couldn't stand it much longer. My hand was gradually slipping. Reading my mind, Fang instantly grabbed my wrist, tightening his grip. I sighed relieved. That was too close…

"Gazzy! No!" shrieked Angel. Gazzy was just too small and the wind was too ferocious. Instantly, I let go of Fang's hand and headed towards Gazzy. But I wasn't able to; Fang's grip was too tight; all I could do was watch him being swept back into the Eraser's clutches by the wind. So that was their plan, this helicopter wasn't own by the government, it was theirs.

I tried to fly backwards, but found it very hard. That was strange. It shouldn't be hard; I shouldn't even need to try. On my second attempt, Fang tightened his grip even more, "What the hell are you doing? Are you mad?" he screamed. Ignoring Fang, I failed again. Maybe it was because I was too worn out, too tired.

A sudden gust of wind made my head made my head jerk backwards, almost cracking my neck. Instantly I turned my body to get a better view. That was when I spotted it. My chocolate eyes rested on Gazzy for a few moments then switched back to it, making the connection. By the time I had realized it, I along with my flock was getting squished by the two opposite winds. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the wind's pressure. When I opened them up again a few seconds later, the winds were gone, the helicopter was gone, the Erasers were gone and what I saw was gone taking Gazzy with it.

I took in a slow deep breath. Gazzy was gone.

**[A/N] Sorry, I know it's a bit short! The next chapter will be up probably after New Years... unless I'm feeling nice and if I get more than 6 reviews, They Will Pay might be updated tomorrow with a new chapter.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**[A/N] OK… Few things you guys need to know before you read. **_**This is the voice talking. **__Max replying. _**Ok, basically this is just an explaining chapter for the previous chapter. But it's a bit longer so I hope you like it.**

That was it. I had reached my limit. My whole body was in pain, and my head was aching _from_ pain. I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to slow down and get away, escape. My brain did the only thing it could do. Shut down. Suddenly, I was surrounded by darkness, my wings folded inwards and I could feel the sudden rush of air as I plunged to the cold hard earth. The last thing I could remember that day was Fang's voice calling out my name…

_**Maximum… **_

_Oh, hi voice. I don't even get a 'hello'?_

_**Look what you have made us do.**_

_What!? You did this!?_

_**If only you had listened to me, maybe then…**_

_LISTENED TO YOU? I was practically your slave! I can't believe this!_ I screamed inside my head furiously. 

_Maybe what? Maybe you wouldn't have taken Nudge and then Gazzy from me? Who the hell is gonna be next, huh?_

_**Calm down Maximum.**_

_CALM DOWN? I swear, when I find out who you are Voice, I'll find a way to put a voice inside your damn head and torture you just as you did to me._

_**I see I won't be able to talk to you now. But please Maximum, keep what they give you. You might find them useful in the future. But now it is time to wake up.**_

With that I jolted awake to find the Fang and Angel sleeping soundly and Iggy staring at me. "Geez Max, you really scared us… We lost Gazzy and then we thought we would have lost you. Luckily, Fang was able to catch you in time; otherwise you would have been…" Iggy whispered leaving the sentence unfinished. Though he didn't show it, I could detect an ounce of sadness, fear and relief in his voice. That was when I promised to never cry, blank out or feel sorry for myself until my flock was whole again. I was their leader and yet I was the weakest. What was wrong with me?

"Iggy what are the injuries?"

"No broken bones, it's just manly cuts and bruises that will probably heal by the end of tomorrow. But-"

From the sound of my voice, Angel and Fang woke up and bombarded with questions before Iggy could finish. Most of them were about me and my black out. But somehow I managed to not tell anyone – even Angel about what the voice had told me. When the entire ruckus had died down, I managed to find Angel under the nearby tree; she had hardly spoken to me since I woke up. I limped over to her with a badly bruised body and a sprain ankle. She was crying.

"Max, did you see where they took Gazzy?" stuttered Angel.

I shook my head and sat down. "Sorry, Sweetie, I didn't. All I know is that the whole thing was a trap. They sent a helicopter so that one of us would let go and get pushed back into the Erasers. They would grab whoever it was and escape in a cargo plane that was behind us…"

Angel looked at me amazed while Fang and Iggy demanded why I didn't tell them. I stood up angrily, "Hey! By the time I found out, I blacked out because of the stupid Voice!"

"The Voice?" Fang shouted back.

Oh shoot! This isn't going to turn out good. I looked at Iggy and tried to change the subject. "What happened to the train? Why did it explode?"

"It blew up. It was Itex's train, Gazzy saw it first."

I heard Angel whimper at the sound of her brother's name. "How did he know!?"

"Max, he was at the front. The train was labeled 'Big Boom Itex'" Fang who answered still thinking about the Voice.

"Oh great, so they've been one step ahead of us this whole time. First it was Nudge and the card, and now it's Gazzy…"

"With the sand timer…" I stared at Angel who spoke showing a very confused face. She held it out, answering my question. It looked like an ordinary sand timer, but it didn't feel like one. The glass was rough and it seemed a bit too heavy. Maybe I was just too paranoid.

My fingers ran around the whole thing. They felt every crack, bump and dent on the timer. It seemed like a waste of time but I wasn't. Thanks to my paranoia, I found an invisible lid. 'Pop' the lid opened, jaws dropped and a note dropped onto the bark-littered ground. Carefully I unfolded it and read, "Gasman is gone. He is never to return. How far you run, no matter where you hide, we'll find you. Itex. One, one, two, three, five, eight, thirteen, dot, dot, dot"

"What the?" Iggy mumbled in amazement."What's with the numbers and the dots?"

"Dunno. "

"So what do we do now?" asked Fang.

"I say we start a war – with Itex."

**[A/N] I know there's a lot of talking and it's a pretty boring chapter. But the next chapter will be better! I've also got a few things to ask/tell you guys…**

**The first person who knows what the number thing is and puts it in a review, I'll answer any 3 questions you have for the next few chapters. But please, if you don't want me to spoil it say so.**

**For chapters to come, would you rather, Fang and Max or Iggy and Max. And no, this story isn't gonna turn into a romance story… I just need to know**

**Chapter 5 is already written, so when you click the review button, I'll click the update button… and that leads me to my last point… **

**REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**[A/N] Chapter 5! Enjoy…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride**

Our rage of war started. Our only target was Itex and our goal was to destroy Itex and find Nudge and Gasman. The first lab we attacked was in Utah. Like always we worked as a team; Fang found as much information he could on the internet, Iggy supplied all of the ammo…aka bombs, Angel's job was to get us in and the experiments out, and me? Well, I had to put everything else together.

All of the planning took two days, on the third day we attacked and when we left the compound all you could see was a burnt down building. Similarly, that was what the other five Itex buildings looked liked. Nevada, California, Colorado, Kansas and Iowa all had newspaper headlines saying, "Kids Bomb Down Building". Good and bad things came out of our frenzy: we managed to find out that Florida was the home of the main school in America. But the bad thing was the others were nowhere to be seen.

On the 23rd of April, exactly 21 days since Gazzy was taken, we ate breakfast at a small fast food place. There was just one hour left until the bomb Iggy installed the day before, went off. We had plenty of time, I thought as we ate across the street from the tight-security compound. All four of us had breakfast like a happy family, it was part of our story I had told the cop that was smoking outside. Apparently, this place was always broken into. But frankly, I didn't care at all; we were going to leave anyway.

"Max? I need to go to the toilet…" stated Angel as she tugged at my grey sleeve.

"I'll go with her," Iggy sighed. Ever since this whole thing started, I became more careful, more paranoid. So I had made it a rule that wherever or whatever you do, someone had to be with you.

I started panicking after 10 minutes ticked by. Iggy and Angel hadn't come back, something was wrong. My stomach churned as Fang and I made our way to the toilets hidden behind the restaurant.

"Iggy? Angel?" I called while blocking the stink from entering my nose. But there was no answer. Stepping around the corner, we collided into flyboys. The good thing was flyboys must have been built without ears because they were just as surprised as we were. My mind was racing, my heart was pounding and adrenalin was racing around inside my body. I leapt onto my feet and scanned the disgusting alleyway, Fang who was beside me had already recovered and was on his feet facing the flyboys.

A second later, all hell broke loose. Fists, kicks and sparks were flying everywhere, it was complete chaos. I thought I was doing well until I realised none of the ugly robots were falling down. I did a roundhouse kick to the nearest flyboy; I smiled as I heard its neck crack above all of the noise. But that smiled faded when the robot didn't go down.

'Click' my face went pale. Slowly, I turned around raising my hands. Time seemed to stand still between the gunman and I. 'Bang' it went off and I went down. Fortunately, the bullet missed my head by less than a centimetre. But it wasn't over yet. From the floor, I heard the next bullet click into place. _Oh crap…_My eyelids were shut tightly; once again I waited for the pain. And once again it didn't come. Instead, a strange crackling sound replaced it. I opened my eyes and smirked, luck was on our side; Fang stood just a few metres away holding a long green hose.

"So I guess the whitecoats aren't smart enough to make these guys waterproof yet…" joked Fang.

Laughing, I got onto my feet and lead the way into the tiny restroom. "Iggy? Angel?" I called again but this time my heart leapt as Fang found Iggy in the last cubicle. As Fang shook an unconscious Iggy awake I continued my search for Angel. But she was nowhere to be found. Desperately, I ran over to Iggy who was now conscious and said one word – Angel.

"Max, she's gone, they took her," choked Iggy as he spat out blood. Nudging Fang aside, I quietly left the disgusting room with a piece of my heart missing.

**[A/N] Did ya like it? Yes, no. Got any improvements and/or suggestions? **

**I haven't even started chapter 6 because I need to know if you guys would rather Fang and Max or Iggy and Max. **

**So, I got one word for you… REVIEW! **


	6. Chapter 6

**[A/N] Ok, this is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride**

"Ok, so what do we do now? Attack or run?" I asked miserably. We were all sitting around a table inside the takeaway shop. There were only three of us left, Fang, Iggy and me – Max. We were all shocked and furious.

"I say we go kick those bastards straight to hell," Iggy muttered while blood dripped from his mouth. I examined him one more time; his head looked like it was a puffer fish dipped in dull blue and purple paint, instead of spikes he had cuts, lots of cuts. But his body was worse, he had two fractured ribs that was under a badly cut and grazed skin.

"I agree with Iggy," stated Fang. I stared at him shocked, although this was supposed to be the easiest attack we had faced, Angel was gone and Iggy looked like he was half dead.

"We have to go because this is going to be the best chance we get of finding Angel." _Angel_… she must have been crying right now, either that or she was unconscious.

I sighed defeated, he was right. "Fine, we'll go." The two boys were already halfway out the door when they saw me hesitate. Fang gave me a look that said what-the-hell-are-you-doing? I just stood there looking like an idiot recalling what the Voice said:

"_But Maximum, please keep what they give you. You may find them useful in the future."_

Nothing had replaced Angel. No, something must have had, I just didn't bother to look. I ran past Iggy and headed towards the crime scene, dodging the dead robots. _Where was it? _Even though I had no clue what I was looking for,I searched the basin, the roof, even the floor. There was only one place left, the very last cubicle. I kicked down the piece of wood that stood between me and what I wanted. And sure enough it was sitting there taunting me.

"Max?" called Iggy before finding me. "What the hell are you doing? We've barely got 15 minutes left!" Stuffing the toy in my bag, I grabbed Iggy's wrist and left knowing something was going to happen, and the worst thing was all of the odds was stacked against us.

***

We met a frustrated Fang at the end of the alley. No words were said, instead all three of us leapt into the sky unfurling our wings.

Fang already had his hand-drawn map in his hands and was signaling us over the enclosed grass area. I watched as the dozens of laughing experiments mucked around. The sight briefly took me back to the old days when we were trapped in the School. Fang and I were flying in an enclosed grass area which was just like this. When the memory ended I snapped back into the cruel reality.

"How much longer until all goes boom?" I asked the bomb expert.

"Hmm… I'd say about five minutes," He answered looking at his white countdown watch.

"Good, 'cause we need to figure out a plan."

"Talk about last minutes stuff Max…" mumbled Fang.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

"No, nothing."

"Hmm… I thought so."

We took about four and a half minutes adjusting our original plan, which meant we had thirty seconds to kill. Then the countdown began: _Five…four…three…two…one..._ '**BOOM**!' the undetectable bomb on the roof exploded and the glass that kept useful experiments in and experiments like us out, shattered into a million of pieces.

Adrenalin pumped inside my body…time for some sweet payback…

**[A/N] Mmmm… revenge will be sweet. My apologies for the shortness, next chapter will have some flyboy/eraser action and some butt kicking, so review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**[A/N] This is probably my favourite chapter so far. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride, but I do however own this plot.**

On cue, the three of us launched forward, breaking into the compound. Fang and Iggy ran straight into the main building with bombs ready to plant leaving me to deal with the experiments. I sighed. It was going to take twice as long to get them out.

Ba-dump…Ba-dump…Ba-dump… I raced through the maze of corridors. The experiments were out and I plunged into the second step of attack. Information. My heart uncontrollably thumped as I stepped through the computer room doors. Rushing to the nearest machine, I tapped away listening to the panic that arose in the corridors. I didn't have much time left, and I knew it.

A few moments later, I waited impatiently at the printer that spat out the valuable documents I needed. There was only one piece of paper left to print by the time Fang and Iggy bursted through the sliding glass doors.

"Hurry up! We have to go now!" Fang said hastily. Pushing the paper into my bag on top of the others, I raced after my family.

***

When I saw the door that lead to the grassy area, my heart leapt. We were going to make it out alive, I thought. But I should've known it wouldn't have been that easy, nothing was ever that easy. Up ahead, Fang and Iggy had stopped dead in their tracks. _Oh no…_

"What-"I started but was immediately cut off by Iggy.

"Flyboys, Erasers,"

"And Jeb," finished Fang. The sound of his name made me sick. When I caught up a second later, my face went deadly pale. There, on the grass were about twenty erasers, twenty flyboys and a whitecoat waiting for us to take a step out of the door.

All hell broke loose when we did. No, that was an understatement. All hell, heaven and earth broke loose when our shoes touched the grass. Erasers morphed into snarling wolves with disgusting faces and sharp claws. Jeb seemed to have banned guns because flyboys pulled out all of the ninja weapons you could think of. In less than a second, each of us found ourselves fighting for our lives against about thirteen things that were thirsting for blood. Only three seconds into the battle, my body was already battered and bruised.

Out of nowhere, a powerful fury fist collided with my face making me spit out blood. I heard Fang yell my name but I didn't reply. I was only thinking one thought at the time, _if I was going down, im bringing these bastards down with me_. With everything I had, I threw a violent kick to the Eraser's thick neck. So far, that was the fifth eraser I had taken down.

I steadily flew up a metre into the air, taking the fight to the next level. All of my hopes about gaining a new advantage were shattered when my opponents followed just as easily. Studying the battlefield, I noticed Fang and Iggy had done the same as me, fighting while flying. What also caught my attention were the bodies of erasers that lay still on the grass below. Though we had taken down quite a few Erasers, there was still more of them alive than dead or unconscious. But the worst thing was that not one single flyboy was dead.

The next thing I knew was the roaring of thunder above my head. I smirked as I remembered Fang's words last night…

"_Guys, we can't take another day of planning. We need to do this tomorrow because if flyboys are there we'll have the weather on our side."_

_Iggy curiously sniffed the air, "But it's going to rain…"_

"_Exactly."_

I glanced at Fang; he was thinking the same thing as I was. We called Iggy's name and rose higher. But that was one of the few times Iggy's blindness got the worst of him and the situation. The flyboys and Erasers had somehow already caught on and grabbed him, making it impossible for him to ascend any higher. That was when remembered _him_. Jeb. He stood under an umbrella on the far side, starting at me with a huge grin on his face. It was him, it had to be him. No way could Erasers be that smart and flyboys were just robots, they wouldn't be able to think if their life depended on it. It was all because of _him_.

A sudden jerk at my foot broke our gaze. I started kicking like a maniac as I desperately tried to get the flyboy off of my foot. But in the end it wasn't me or Fang, it was the wonderful rain that cause the flyboy and all of the other flyboys to malfunction.

"MAX! C'mon we got to get out of here!" screamed Fang.

"But Ig-"

"We'll come back for him later!"

"But…"

"Max…" sobbed Iggy from down below, he had heard what Fang had said. I switched from Fang to Iggy. Family or freedom…?

**[A/N] Thank you to the following people:**

**willowgrace511, maxride333, Emma1693, ****Yylaayl, fed x, ****Jenny Telrio and especially **** for reviewing at least once. **

**I hope the list gets longer…**

**~Blue**


	8. Chapter 8

**[A/N] Yeah, I haven't updated in a while… What can I say, getting grounded school, assignments and sport doesn't give you that much time to write…**

_Family or freedom?_

Time seemed to stand still during that moment where both, my heart and mind was torn between the choices. Part of me just wanted to run away with him and disappear off the face of the earth, but the other part wanted to knock him dead for saying it.

Everything around me was working in slow motion. The rain felt as though it was taking minutes to make contact with my skin, erasers were ever so slowly tightening their grip on Iggy and Fang's dark wings sounded like they had a 5 minute interval between each flap. But sadly my heart seemed unaffected. It seemed to have the opposite effect as forgotten memories flashed by.

We, everyone, together went through it all: rescuing Angel, Anne, Antarctica…everything, and now it's my job to get everyone back together, back to being a whole flock.

Ba-thump… ba-thump… ba-thump… Gravity pulled everything back into chaos as I snapped out of my trance. Rain soaked my dirty blonde hair, thunder roared, lightning struck and despite his warnings and protests I pulled Fang into the circle of Erasers that guarded Iggy. I had made my decision and Fang new my reason, once a family, always a family.

Although the three of us knew that our day was going to end with Erasers punching our lights out, we sure as hell didn't want to make it easy for them. Another bad (but fun) choice made by the magnificent Maximum Ride. Why do I say that with such sarcasm? Because when I woke up, I felt like a bus had run over me.

***

I woke up the next morning in a white room, on a white bed; under white covers will a deadly white face. My entire body was aching in pain and half of my brain seemed to be missing. Slowing sitting up, I grimaced as the pain got worse. "Where am I? Fang? Iggy?" I groaned. Blood rushed to my head as panic shook through my body. This is not good, I thought.

"Relax Maximum. Stressing isn't the best thing for you at the moment." The sound of the voice I knew way too familiarly made my head jerk up.

"What the hell do _you _want?" I snarled through my pearly whites.

"Calm down. I'll answer all of the questions you have."

"Where am I? Where are Fang and Iggy? What happened out there?" The words barely left my cracked lips.

"You are at the institute you attacked. You were beaten yesterday and as a result Fang and Iggy are gone."

"What do you mean they're gone? GONE WHERE?" Even though my body was growing considerably weaker, it didn't stop my blood from boiling. I needed to get out of here and fast, I thought. But failing to even get out of the bed, I froze in horror. _What did they do to me?_

"They are gone as in not here. Don't panic, we didn't do anything except drug you so that you can barely move your muscles. But that will wear off in a few hours time." Jeb continued without a care in the world. But he did care about something. And that something was what I was going to stay to find out; it wasn't like I had a choice anyway.

But still he was a bastard. A bastard that I will never forgive.

"I'll ask you again. What do you want?"

"I want you to save the world." He replied.

Oh no, he did not just say that.

I didn't know how to start. Eventually I said something along the lines of "I can't believe you still want me to do that crap. You say that millions of times and send me of, not knowing anything! And what, do you honestly think that taking away my family would possibly make me co-operate? You and everyone who works for Itex are just all idiots." But unfortunately, that was my limit.

I woke up with 3 hours later a gas mask attached to my face …

**[A/N] I hope you liked that. To me, this chapter was pretty boring and a bit OOC. I've kind of got a writer's block at the moment. I know how she is going to escape but then what? You guys gotta help me! So far I've only thought of these options:**

**She travels from state to state blowing schools to shreds.**

**She gives up (don't really like this one).**

**She finds other experiments (don't really have any ideas for this one… and it's kind of clichéd).**

**Have you got any ideas? I need some help! Please review!**


End file.
